The aim of this document is analyzing the commercial activities in the Colombian province of Guajira as well as the institutional and natural limits that the merchants endured between 1870-1930. This study suggests that a cross-border economy had been developed in the region characterized by the lack of institutional presence, a large indigenous population, an inhospitable area for colonization and active trade with neighbour countries and territories such as Venezuela, Curacao, Jamaica and other islands. The employers and the regional leaders linked to extractive activities such as salt, pearls, dyewood as well as with the trade could not create the ideal institutions or entrepreneurial context for the Guajira economy to consolidate as a productive network based on an endogenous production with competitive companies and a labour-market adjusted to national legislation.